“I don't know about you, Twilight, but something about this storm ain't right.”
Twilight joined Applejack in peering out the library window. The sky was slowly but steadily being covered over by a massive wall of roiling black clouds, constantly lit from within by unseen lighting flashes.
“I wouldn't worry too much,” Twilight said. “It's just a storm. We've had them before.”
“Yeah, but not ones like this.”
Turning from the window, Twilight walked to her desk. “It's probably just a stray storm that slipped out from Cloudsdale. I'm sure Rainbow Dash and the other Pegasus ponies are on it.”
Applejack fidgeted. “They'd better. Last time Ponyville got a storm this big, all our apple trees were scattered across the countryside!”
Twilight picked up one of the apple fritters Applejack had brought over, only to be cut off as Spike bounded down the stairs, a pair of binoculars clutched between his fingers. "Twilight!”
“Spike? What is it?”
“You'd better come see this, and fast!”
Dropping the fritter, Twilight ran up the stairs after Spike, with Applejack close behind her. They emerged onto the library's highest balcony, and were nearly blown off by a strong wind. Taking Spike's binnoculars, Twilight peered through and gasped.
“Twilight?” Applejack asked. “What's wrong?!”
“Oh no! We've got another storm coming in!”
“What?!” Pushing Twilight aside, Applejack looked through the binoculars. Creeping over distant mountain ranges was another storm, this one twice as large as the one already en-route to Ponyville.
“Spike, we need to get a letter to Celestia right away!” Twilight said. “She has to be warned about these two storms!”
“Uhhh... Twilight?” Spike said. “Don't you mean three storms?”
“Three?!”
Spike pointed west. Turning the binoculars in that direction, Applejack caught sight of another mammoth storm heading towards Ponyville.
“Sweet mother of Celestia...” Applejack whispered.
Three storms?!" Twilight shook her head. "How could three storms get past the Pegasus ponies? It's not possible!”
“Then write your dang letter to Celestia and have her send out the cavalry!” Applejack said.
Twilight shook her head. “Not even all of Cloudsdale could handle a storm this big. One yes, two possibly, but not three of them, not all at once. They're to hit, combine, and create a... a... a perfect storm.”
Spike backed away from the railing. “Then what do we do?!”
Twilight didn't answer. Weather patterns weren't her specialty, but she knew this was bad: never before in all of Equestria's history had Ponyville and the surrounding areas been hit by three storms at once. The resulting deluge, thunder, and winds could cause catastrophic damage, especially to the more fragile stores and dwellings in the area. Sugarcube corner, in particular, would practically melt into tasty goo.
“Twilight?” Spike shook Twilight's leg. “Twilight! What do we do?!”
Twilight shook her head. “We've got to prepare! We've got to get everyone ready before it's too late!”
“Open your eyes, Twilight!” Applejack said. “There ain't no gettin' ready for storms like these! You've got to get everyone out of town, and pronto!”
“But that's well over a thousand ponies! And at the rate the storm is coming on, we'll never get everyone out!”
Applejack tossed the binoculars aside. “Well, that's your problem!” She ran back inside.
“Applejack?! Wait!” Twilight chased Applejack down into the library, caught her as she was running out the front door. “Applejack, where are you going?!”
“To the farm! I gotta save my trees!”
“But I need you here! We'll need all the hooves we can get to—”
“Twilight, I wanna help you, I really do, but if all my trees go, then there goes the Apple family's livelihood! When we get everything tied down, I'll come back and help as best I can. Besides, I know you can handle this.” She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. “I believe in you.”
Then she ran out the door and into the first drops of rain that fell from above.
Spike clutched Twilight's leg. “Twilight...I'm scared.”
Twilight put a hoof around him. “So am I, Spike. But there's a lot of ponies out there who need our help. Take a message to Princess Celestia: Tell her we're bracing for a big storm, and could use any help she can provide.”
Eager to help, Spike ran to the desk, scribbled down the note, and sent it. “Done!”
“Good. Now grab your coat; we need to head out there and coordinate rescue efforts with the mayor.”
***
Five minutes later, and Twilight was flying towards the mayor's office, Spike riding on her back. Already the rain was coming down harder as the storm fronts sped up. It wouldn't be long before they hit. Hopefully, Ponyville would be ready in time.
But Twilight couldn't shake the deep, nagging feeling that something was terribly wrong, like this storm wasn't going to be her only problem for the day. But what could be worse than one of the strongest storms ever seen? Shaking her head, Twilight turned her focus back to the matter at hand. If there was going to be another problem besides the storm, it would probably involve animals, perhaps a stampede of panicked beasts from the Everfree forest. But that was easily amended by having Fluttershy work with the animals to avoid a destructive stampede.
Besides, compared to the storm, how bad could some panicked animals be?